CSCS: Council of Senior Centers and Services of NYC, Inc.

On Christmas eve, the U.S. Senate took a historic step toward protecting our elders from being beaten, neglected or exploited – our Senators, for the first time, passed the full Elder Justice Act by including it in their health care bill.

It is critical that the House of Representatives hears from you today.

Please take three minutes and send your representatives an email by clicking here and urge them to include the Elder Justice Act in Health Care Reform.

If you haven’t yet watched the documentary “An Age For Justice” take a few minutes and view it at www.elderjusticenow.org/videos.

For further information, please contact Karol Markosky, (212) 398-6565 x227 or kmarkosky@cscs-ny.org

Based on her professional experience, Bobbie Sackman knows that elder abuse often happens behind closed doors and often within families. She believes that it is time to stand and do something to protect the nation’s elderly.

5 things you can do right now:

1. Share a story via text or video
2. Encourage your Senators and your Representative in Congress to sign-on to the Elder Justice Act
3. Sign a petition
4. Watch and share others’ stories
5. Send your friends and colleagues to www.elderjusticenow.org to learn more

As a champion of elder rights, one of the most frustrating things for me is the lack of comprehensive federal legislation to protect older adults from elder abuse.  The Elder Justice Act– which has been in the hands of Congress since 2002 — will provide a foundation to prevent, detect, treat, intervene in and prosecute abuse of older Americans. Our country passed child abuse prevention legislation 25 years ago and the Violence Against Women Act 15 years ago, however no Federal law has been enacted that adequately and comprehensively addresses the issues of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Current federal resources devoted to the problem of elder abuse are minimal – less than 2% of abuse prevention dollars go to mistreatment of older adults.  Don’t elders have a right to live free from fear of abuse, neglect, and exploitation?

Every year, an estimated five million older Americans are beaten, ignored or financially exploited, causing illness, suffering and premature death. Yet, elder abuse is not perceived as a national tragedy and collectively there is much silence around the issue.  Older adults who experience mistreatment have a 300% higher risk of death.  Elder Financial abuse alone costs older Americans $2.6 billion a year.

CSCS is getting involved in the fight and you can too!  Use these simple steps to  take action and then tell us about it here!  What can you do to protect seniors from elder abuse?

Take Action:

*Contact your representative and ask them to co-sponsor the Elder Justice Act

*Go to www.elderjusticenow.com to hear more about the national campaign